Judo star Widdicombe claims victory at English Open in Thetford

IVYBRIDGE Community College judo star Lewis Widdicombe won a gold medal at the recent English Junior and Senior Open at Thetford.

The South Brent Judo Club member took victory in the junior men’s -90kg category.

Widdicombe, in his first year at junior level, was in a pool of five and quickly won his first three fights throwing his opponents for Ippon.

His fourth and final fight was against Tom Lish, who recently won the Northern Ireland Junior Open. Widdicombe won that with a hold down, again for Ippon, to secure the title and 100 ranking points. He is now ranked second in the British rankings.

He also represented Great Britain at the European Junior Cup event in Lithuania at the weekend, but his progress there was ended by Dutch competitor Raymon De Vos.

Widdicombe’s South Brent team-mate Tom Ingram also made the podium in Thetford. He took silver in the junior -75kg category after narrowly losing to Archie Platt in the final.

Final-year junior Ingram also competed in the senior competition and progressed to the bronze medal round after winning two of his first three fights. However, he lost in his contest and had to settle for fifth, which was still an excellent placing as a junior.

South Brent’s second-year junior Adam Whitfield also competed at Thetford in the -81kg category. He lost his first fight against the eventual gold medallist and dropped into the repechage. He won his next fight but then lost his third so was not placed.